Remember when banks were exposed manipulating virtually everything except precious metals, because obviously nobody ever manipulates the price of gold and silver? After all, the biggest "conspiracy theory" of all is that crazy gold bugs blame every move against them on some vile manipulator. It may be time to shift yet another conspiracy "theory" into the "fact" bin, thanks to Elke Koenig, the president of Germany's top financial regulator, Bafin, which apparently is not as corrupt, complicit and clueless as its US equivalent, and who said that in addition to currency rates, manipulation of precious metals "is worse than the Libor-rigging scandal." Hear that Bart Chilton and friends from the CFTC?

The allegations about the currency and precious metals markets are “particularly serious, because such reference values are based -- unlike Libor and Euribor -- typically on transactions in liquid markets and not on estimates of the banks,” Elke Koenig, the president of Bafin, said in a speech in Frankfurt today.

Actually, what makes the most serious, is that precisely because they are on liquid markets means they implicitly have the blessing of the biggest New Normal market maker of call - the central banks, and their own "regulator" - the Bank of International Settlements (hello Mikael Charoze).

“That the issue is causing such a public reaction is understandable,” Koenig said, according to a copy of the speech. “The financial sector is dependent on the common trust that it is efficient and at the same time, honest. The central benchmark rates seemed to be beyond any doubt, and now there is the allegation they may have been manipulated.”

Bafin has also interviewed employees of Deutsche Bank AG as part of a probe of potential manipulation of gold and silver prices, a person with knowledge of the matter has said.

We wonder how long until this particular investigation is stopped based on an "executive order" from above, because Bafin is now stepping into some very treacherous waters with its ongoing inquiry of gold manipulation: what it reveals will certainly not be to the liking of the financial "powers that be."

Don't stop the shit yet...I still have FRNs to exchange for precious metals. And if the government isn't insolvent by the time I file taxes, there is a refund coming to me. (Thanks, suckers, for giving me $1000 per child in my family. Still not sure why that is, but we convert it into four ounces of gold right away!!!) Don;t take the punchbowl away until late February or early March at the absolute fucking earliest!!!!

Well back in the late 80's - when nobody seemed to care about gold - the vaults on E Level at the NY Fed were full of gold, all nicely stacked in their respective government's cages. The German bars - and much of the European gold - was still stamped with the eagle and swasticka put on then the Reichsbank had it in inventory. While the smelter puts their ID, fineness and weight on bars, it was also the custom of various banks to stamp bars withtheir mark of ownership.

It's already come out that Germany was allowing their gold in US possession to be leased out (to be lent to various bullion banks and - OF COURSE, SOLD - while the banks paid minimal interst on theoir lease and invested the proceeds of the sale in higher paying bonds, a supposed 'win-win' as long as gthe price of gold holds steady or goes down).

So.... now we have the scramble to buy it back - in competition with China and the rest of the world - and you can bet the US is going to be nice to China in exchange for continued support of the $US (e.g. - NOT dumping US Treasuries all at once - a move also in China's interest to preserve as much value as possible while they convert those $$$ into hard assets).

I wonder if ANY gold is left in the basement of the Fed

Would be all too convenient for some if the 'Die Hard With a Vengence' scenario actually came to pass in one form of another..... HORRORS!!! We were robbed!!!!!

They had that chance when the Gold was stored in the Basement Vaults of the World Trade Center.

But for some reason they decided to move all of those metric tons of Gold, beginning in July, 2001 to, as Alan Greenspan said on Sept. 17, 2001, to an "undisclosed location". (the vaults of the NY Federal Reserve)

So none of that Gold was vaporized underneath the WTC on September 11, 2001.

It just had to have been, "Dumb luck" that the Gold was not in those underground vaults on September 11, 2001.

I can just imagine the US Government Official in Charge saying, "Hey..I am bored. Let's take a couple of MONTHS and MOVE ALL OF THE GOLD OUT FROM UNDERNEATH THE WTC. That will give us something to do...Let us just do this for the fuck of it."

No. They had no clue that those Twin Towers were going down...NONE WHATSOEVER.

Sleeping like babies, confident the kind, grandfather-like NY bankers were keeping a watchful eye on their stash. Speaking of the cartel, is anyone else enjoying watching them repeatedly attempt to push silver under $20 only to receive a waving silver finger in their face and a taunting "Oh no you di-int!".

The government will save us! It's not like they manipulate the economy, massage the numbers or believe in central planning, right? They care about us more than we care about ourselves. They will fix this and set it right, I am certain.

they found out what a few thousand of us probationary tinfoil hat wearing cavetrolls know. The vast majority of the gum chewing mongoloids who exist to pop anti depressants and watch my strange addiction, honey boo boo and pawn stars would either laugh at you, or give you a serene autistic blank stare if you said that to them.

Not so fast, 'hoser'. I don't accept that so many of us here at ZH "knew" of this or that even it old/new owners/Tylers and contributors knew. The proof is simple:

1. In a world where ANYTHING of economic is manipulated, we should expect even PMs to be manipulated. But we didn't, in a pre-2013 world. As recently as Oct. 2012 ZHers and other gold fans/bugs were "FRONT-RUNNING" The Fed on its QE policies and driving up the PM prices. That's a fact, Jack!

2. When ZH finally spotted and reported the PM price reversal, due to price manipulation (e.g. Banging the Open or the Close, on thin volumes), it seemed to come as a surprise and a shock. We've seen the PM prices (futures) get monkey-hammered for about 15 months now, and each "uptick" is falsely celebrated as some kind of a "recovery", when in fact it's nothing but an ongoing part of a Sideways market. Even TD does it... trying to talk up PM prices. And I call them out on it every time.

I submit that it's not just TPTB (Fed & Friends) who are "manipulating" PM prices, but so are gold bulls. The latter do it with their feeble attempts at pump up the prices or bullion purchases, when this is not working. Not in the US anyway.

There is therefore a fair bit of Revisionist History going on here on ZH. There has only been a realization of PM Manipulation after the fact, not before it.

As I've said many times: PM prices will be (a) Channel-Bound and (b) won't break out until TPTB let their prices break out. No matter what ZH says or gold bulls & shills proclaim.

Anyone who has been involved in the Gold Market since the 1970s knows that the damned price has been manipulated. What is a Gold Standard? It is the Ultimate Price Control? (Of course it serves to limit profligate Government spending and, thus, is an anti-Government tool.)

But when the Government decoupled the currency from Gold back in the 1970s the market was still manipulated.

In the 1960s the Gold Market was manipulated by London UNDER BRETTON WOODS. Does the London Gold Pool ring a bell???

In the 1980s the Gold Market was manipulated.

In the 1990s the price was subject to supression. Brown's Bottom was the final attempt to crush demand for Gold. It did not work.

The Gold Anti Trust Action Group, GATA, www.gata.org, stood up and filed an action against the Federal Reserve Bank. They were watching the South African Miners being starved by these policies. This incensed their Good Conscience.

So their filed an Anti-Trust Lawsuit did not go anywhere because...

THE RECORDS, THE EVIDENCE, FOR THAT ANTI-TRUST CASE, ALONG WITH THE EVIDENCE FOR THE ENRON ENERGY MARKETS MANIPULATION CASE (fuck Kenneth Lay as he burns in Hell), BURNED UP IN THE COLLAPSE OF WORLD TRADE CENTER BUILDING #7 ON SEPTEMBER 11. 2001.

How fucking convenient.

Three Criminal Cases evaporated on September 11.

GATA's antitrust case...

Enron Energy Market Manipulation case...

And the Embezzled $2 Trillion from the Department of Defense case stored conveniently where the damage was impacted upon the Pentagon.

Just a fucking coincidence, right?

And those are just the ones I know about. I wonder how many more were quashed by that event...

And you ARROGANTLY think and propose that we are UNAWARE??? GET REAL!!!

What gets my fucking Goat are some of the PM contributors on Seeking Alpha, who flatly deny the existence of manipulation in the PM markets and would rather use stupid little charts to explain the price falls. These idiots are hopelessly misinformed and blind to reality.

If we want to have a chance to remain the masters of gold an international agreement on the rules of the game as outlined above seems to be a matter of urgency. We would fool ourselves in thinking that we have time enough to wait and see how the S.D.R.'s will develop. In fact, the challenge really seems to be to achieve by international agreement within a very short period of time what otherwise could only have been the outcome of a gradual development of many years.

U.S. objectives for world monetary system—a durable, stable system, with the SDR as a strong reserve asset at its center — are incompatible with a continued important role for gold as a reserve asset.... It is the U.S. concern that any substantial increase now in the price at which official gold transactions are made would strengthen the position of gold in the system, and cripple the SDR

It's obviously being manipulated because developed economies are exercising QE, printing money, which would bomb their currency valuation/s if gold prices were allowed to rise. It's a no brainer because as we can see gold is being hoarded. How can something that is being hoarded remain down in price?

I just hope this investigation is not squelched in the interest of BAU.

High demand = low price is always true when gov puts in price controls. In Venezuela recently, the government set the prices for everything, from big screen TV's to toilet paper. The purpose beinig to hide, or not acknowledge inflation. All prices were set low, so there was a very high demand, which immediately cleaned out all the stores. Business owners were not interested in losing money, so they did not replace stock.

It's a communication problem. He doesn't mean by manipulation what you mean by manipulation. He's talking about waterfalls on Friday that have no effect on the monthly average price. the only thing that's possible, by the way. Manipulating PM's prices in the sense that the internet cognescenti believe in is impossible; which is why it doesn't happen; because impossible things don't happen.

Two years ago at midnight, a stranger(he had pulled over on the side of the road), my cousin, and myself came across a vehicle that had smashed into a light post. The electrical line snapped and caused a fire in the vehicle. It was an M3 convertible. While my cousin and stranger telephoned for help, I went over to the vehicle and immediately put out the man burning in flames with my shirt. Burning human skin is unforgettable.

We immediately moved him across the street in fear of the car exploding. The car was engulfed in flames in just a few minutes.

Police and fire department showed and the Chopper took him away.

Point is, I informed the fire chief we were afraid the car would explode. He said, "Cars explode only in movies. It rarely happens in reality."

Call me a cynic, but he may have (had help) faked his death. Not a lot of places to go in your career as 'investigative journalist' if you lose credibility (which is what would have happened if he didn't continue outing gov't corruption and scandal).

Need to get started, but my semester is started too so I have been a neglectful plant mom. I have one big job to get done, then probably this weekend I will get out there and put some back into it! Still need to do some winter clean up.

greenhouse and four small cold frames + some stuff right out in the open that survived 14 degrees. Lots of Kale, but some asian greens are pretty tough, green oinon now coming back. They usually do up here around the third week of January. Garlic too

I should check where I planted those onions... oh dear!! Ha ha ha. I am serious! Raccoons (maybe Rocky?) got my garlic and dug it up.

Some dog stole our bird feeder! The kind with the cakes you put in a cage? Just ran off with it, stopping to try and eat it, and ran again.

I love greens. I can cook up some mean southern style greens. I have no shame, bacon, onion, garlic, aged organic balsamic vinaigrette, salt, pepper, man oh man. Don't cook them to death either! So good for you when you are not eating grain and gluten products. I am off dairy too right now.

I should plant Kale.

Had a lot of apples. Don't have a way to store them. Quite a few went bad. Need a freezer next. All kinds of things going on when I really think about it.

So glad for you and the cold frame action. I bet I could benefit too, but the yard is still evolving. All our problems are not solved yet. The berms are not holding. Should have done swales.

Did we even need any more evidence that the world is turning towards China and their currency...and away from the U.S. and our dollars? If you read the first story regarding Switzerland, they fear that "they are playing catch up" ...especially with our long time ally Britain. It was reported a few weeks ago that Britain has been in trade talks with China and levering their mutual business ties through Hong Kong. Of course they are playing catch up as China has been spanning the globe making trade, currency (theirs) and business deals for several years now.

Have you ever heard of the phrase "Chinese water torture"? This is merely the very slow dripping of water onto someone bound to a table. It is done slowly and methodically and never does the pace increase (unlike CIA water boarding). The process continues until the subject finally breaks. In a sense this is exactly what the Chinese are doing, they are slowly and methodically supplanting the U.S. from it's position of the "reserve currency". Yes we have seen fits and starts but for the most part the pace has remained quite steady but continually "building".

Think about this analogy for a moment, we (the U.S.) are "bound". Did someone "tie us up"? No, we have done this all to ourselves of our own "free will". Yes I know, we did have some "help". We were "helped" by the British and Europeans initially and then by Japan followed by the Chinese. They "helped us" by purchasing our debt. Back in the old days there had to be buyers for one's debt as it was unacceptable, no, LUNACY for the central bank of a country to purchase more than even 1% or less of an offering. Foreigners bought and continued to buy U.S. Treasuries until about 2 years ago...when they just stopped at which point the Fed was forced to step in. The Fed has purchased over 70% of Treasury issuance for over 2 years now, this IS lunacy...but now considered "normal"?

So why is it that the Swiss are moving towards a financial deal with the Chinese? Well, forgetting the fact that our regulators have pissed them off by bullying their bankers, they are simply "following the gold". Gold has been flowing into China at a rate of 100 tons per month (plus retaining their own production). I have seen "official" reports out of the World Gold Council and GFMS that say the Chinese have amassed nearly 3,000 tons and "may have" surpassed the French and Italians. May have? Let me say this, the "official" line of 3,000 tons is laughably BOGUS not to mention that Italy probably lost close to half of their gold back in 1998 with LTCM's blow up.

China has imported and produced AT LEAST 3,000 tons...just in the last 2 years alone! I would guesstimate that 5,000 tons would be the absolute minimum of their hoard and may be 8,000 or even approaching 10,000 tons. Business (and financial power) ALWAYS follows the gold. The flip side of this is that when gold "leaves" a country...so does financial power. Put simply, we blew it! We had the manufacturing base of the world. We were cutting edge everywhere you looked and the financial center of the world. We have lost our "edge" and if the "Monkey Business" that we are playing with Germany's gold is any guide, we have also lost our gold.

I do want to mention that this scheme where the Fed buys Treasury bonds (QE) has prolonged the game, it is also an accelerant to our becoming irrelevant. Monetization is fraudulent and we are doing this openly, publicly and telling the rest of the world something that they know not to be true. They understand today as it has always been understood that gold is "financial truth" which is why business always follows the gold. Watching and living through this is painful from a patriotic standpoint. Foreigners on the other hand don't really care, they are slowly, steadily and methodically (like Chinese water torture) preparing themselves for the future. Trade deals, currency deals, political alliances, military alliances etc. are being negotiated and reported on every single day, yet here in the U.S. it's "business as usual"...until it isn't any longer.

Agree 100%. Rickards feels Chinese needed minimum 4000 tonnes to be a major player at the coming big dance. There is every indication they have exceeded that number by a good margin already and they show no signs of letting up. Won't end well.

Policy of the US seems to be to officially deny disaster is coming while quietly prepping to control the masses for when the coming disaster hits. There is no strategic or economic mitigation "Duck and Cover" type plans to help the man on the street for what's coming, only incremental plans for martial law to protect the status quo.

At least the Chinese have been telling their own people to acquire gold to protect themselves at the same time they are developing their domestic market so they can give the insolvent West the middle finger.

GATA has been trying to raise awareness of this for ages. The price of monetary metal is a direct barometer of truth in the marketplace. I spoke a few years ago with an Indian banker who called the Anglo bunch "the most corrupt in the world."

"The Denver Post, on February 15th, ran an Associated Press article entitled Homeland Security aims to buy 1.6b rounds of ammo, so far to little notice. It confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security has issued an open purchase order for 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition. As reported elsewhere, some of this purchase order is for hollow-point rounds, forbidden by international law for use in war, along with a frightening amount specialized for snipers..."

China has a LONG memory and plenty of reasons to 'get back' at the West.

Remember the Opium Wars? Didn't think so... but the Chinese do. They view the last few hundred years as an 'abberation' - a brief period where the barbarians from the West ran amok. China views itself as the long term bastion of 'civilization' having suffered at the hands of the West in recent centuries.

It's not exactly like they blackmailed or threatened us. And yet... I still don't hear guillotines rolling or knives being sharpened, nor judicial inquiries or even decently organized protests or marches.

In the end... "A people deserve their leaders". I plan and act accordingly: IOW, no "Patriotism" over here, i.e. no "flag-waving or supporting the lifestyle of losers or crooks". Feel free to do so if you like.

p.s. To be clear: I do not deem it a Virtue to bleed or die for an utterly corrupt and bankrupt regime, or a veritable 'army' of losers, parasites and crooks (numbering in the many, many tens of millions).

That does NOT mean that I am not prepared to be a "Patriot" when it comes to protecting "my own", i.e. my family, my friends, my Clan, my Tribe.

Screw "Los Federales"! Time to reign in allegiance (from a Republic that has grown and morphed/metastasized into the very evil Empire it fought in the past). Screw the "national" agenda or so-called "national interests". Time to buy, grow and act locally and regionally.

Bring on the Parallel Economy: a mix of Real Assets, Barter, Cash, PM, and BTC. And ONLY give unto Caesar what Caesar is "entitled to"** (in his own currency).

** Entitled can mean different things to different people. To some it means a strict Constitutional interpretation, whereas for others it means BOHICA -- depending on their level of conviction + physical courage, in the face of Caesar's tax collectors and mercenary army.

As of December 2013, RMB now 2nd most used currency in trade finance, overtaking the Euro.

Recent SWIFT data shows that RMB usage in traditional trade finance - Letters of Credit and Collections - grew from an activity share of 1.89% in January 2012 to 8.66% in October 2013, propelling the RMB to the second most used currency in this market. It ranks behind the USD, which remains the leading currency with a share of 81.08%. The RMB overtook the Euro, which dropped from 7.87% in January 2012 to 6.64% in October 2013 and is now in third place.

The potatoes weren't entirely Kerry's fault. The law prohibits gifts of more than $100 to foreign officials. E.g., the king of Saudi Arabia gives the U.S. president a jewel-encrusted sword worth thousands, and gets a book in return.

Sure, in front of the camera. Of course, King Saudi-poo-poo is then sure to receive billions in "military aide" and "foreign assistance" which he will use to terrorise his populace, entrench his authority, and force their industry to use slave labor that enables them to export real goods back to the US for paper nothings.

The amount of registered gold at COMEX dropped by a very large 20% yesterday, and now there are only 370,000 ounces left, or just a little over 10 tonnes. It's not far from here to zero, so the lies should start piling up faster and furiouser every day now.

Hey, listen, that's been the story for 9-10 months now, so I wouldn't get so excited. You're one of a LONG line of people who have said "they'll be out of gold in week or two." Yet month after month it clicks along, bouncing off the bottom again and again. However they do that magic trick it's obvious they can perform it every damned day of the year.

I've just discovered this really authoritative website, called King World News! They have a lot of experts on there saying that it looks like gold and silver are going to rocket up in price any day now.

Has pretty high quality color comentary on why a Comex failure isn't likely anytime soon. In an earlier entry he pointed out "delivery" is legally made when a long contract holder is given a paper warrant by a too big to fail bank. The warrant never expires and can be used as collateral for a loan making is good as gold unless your one of those pedantic weirdos.

Still lots of machinery in place to keep the reigndeer games going on for a while yet. I still say the game just ends one day when China says so. All we know is that today we are one day closer.